Poh Melissa, Boyer Matthew, Solan Amy, Dahl Shannon L M, Pedrotty Dawn, Banik Soma S R, McKee J Andrew, Klinger Rebecca Y, Counter Christopher M, Niklason Laura E
Duke University Medical Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Lancet. 2005;365(9477):2122-4. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)66735-9.
Tissue engineering has made considerable progress in the past decade, but advances have stopped short of clinical application for most tissues. We postulated that an obstacle in engineering human tissues is the limited replicative capacity of adult somatic cells. To test this hypothesis, the effectiveness of telomerase expression to extend cellular lifespan was assessed in a model of human vascular tissue engineering. Telomerase expression in vascular cells isolated from elderly patients enabled the successful culture of engineered autologous blood vessels. Engineered vessels may one day provide a source of bypass conduit for patients with atherosclerotic disease.
在过去十年中，组织工程取得了长足进展，但对于大多数组织而言，进展尚未达到临床应用阶段。我们推测，构建人体组织的一个障碍是成人体细胞的复制能力有限。为了验证这一假设，在人体血管组织工程模型中评估了端粒酶表达延长细胞寿命的有效性。在从老年患者分离出的血管细胞中表达端粒酶，使得工程化自体血管得以成功培养。工程化血管或许有朝一日能为动脉粥样硬化疾病患者提供旁路管道来源。
